Lions Shock Panthers

Region IV 4A girls

Never was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat more apparent than it was Tuesday night at Gonzaga University’s Martin Centre.

Fourth-seeded Kennewick roared into town and stunned the top-seeded Mead girls basketball team 50-47 in the Lamb-Weston 4A Eastern Regional Tournament.

“This was the biggest win for us in a long time,” said Kennewick coach Debbie Roueche. “We emphasized our defense all season and I think they were surprised by our defensive effort. We were very aggressive and played our hearts out.”

In the opener, the second-seeded Ferris Saxons got on track after a hectic first quarter and cruised to a 59-41 victory over the third-seeded Wenatchee Panthers. Ferris had the lone win for the Greater Spokane League.

Kamiakin crushed the Lewis and Clark Tigers 68-26 at Southridge High School in Kennewick, while Richland defeated Central Valley 49-35 at Pasco High School.

The tourney continues Friday when Ferris plays Kamiakin at 7 p.m. at Tri-Cities Coliseum in a winner-to-state contest.

Mead takes on Central Valley at Richland High School at 4 p.m. in a loser-out game. Lewis and Clark goes up against Wenatchee at 7 in Richland in a loser-out game.

Kennewick 50, Mead 47

A pair of underclassmen doomed the Panthers (18-6).

Freshman Emily Faurholt scored 16 points and sophomore Heather Thoelke added 11 and helped the Lions (14-9) control the boards.

“Two things killed us,” said Mead coach Beth Wing. “They beat us on the boards and we made just 2 of 13 free throws. You can’t win championships when that happens. It was a real disappointing loss for us.”

Kennewick turned a 24-20 halftime lead into a 46-32 advantage with 7-1/2 minutes left in the game. It almost wasn’t enough.

The Panthers ripped off nine straight points to pull within five, and after a layup by the Lions’ Faurholt the Panthers scored six straight to cut the lead to 48-47.

Thoelke drove the baseline and scored with 22 seconds left for the clincher.

“I told our kids coming in they had nothing to lose,” said Roueche. “I let them know it wasn’t good enough to just get here, that we were going to play 32 minutes of our best basketball. We did that.”

Kennewick 12 12 20 6 - 50

Mead 8 12 12 15 - 47

KENNEWICK - Turner 0 0-0 0, Easton 0 0-0 0, Browning 2 0-0 5, Olson 0 0-0 0, Gregorich 3 2-2 9, Rittenberg 1 1-1 3, Mensinger 2 0-0 4, Thoelke 2 7-7 11, Faurholt 8 0-0 16, Steidel 1 0-0 2, Steichen 0 0-0 0, Fuller 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-10 50.

MEAD - Zelinski 6 0-2 17, Slater 1 0-0 2, Kehl 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 4 0-0 9, Bailey 3 0-0 6, Bennett 4 2-9 11, Leaf 0 0-0 0, Curry 1 0-0 2, Schuerman 0 0-2 0, Myers 0 0-0 0, Gallagher 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 2-13 47.

3-point goals - Zelinski 5, Ferguson, Bennett, Browning, Gregorich. Fouled out - none.

Ferris 59, Wenatchee 41

Ferris (19-4) found out what many Big Nine teams already knew: You can’t run with the Panthers (16-7).

Ferris tried to do just that in the first quarter and found itself trailing 22-17.

“That was the quickest team we’ve played this year,” noted Ferris coach Art Rojas. “The whole game was about tempo. I was going crazy trying to get them to slow things down. Once we quit trying to run with them momentum shifted our way.”

Ferris dominated the game from the second quarter on.

Karie Pruett had a game-high 19 points for Ferris. Teammate Janelle Morrisette added a career-high 17.

The Saxons held the Panthers’ Jennifer Schooler, the Big Nine player of the year, to just eight points.

Wenatchee 22 3 6 10 - 41

Ferris 17 19 7 16 - 59

WENATCHEE - C.Sparks 4 6-9 14, Schuenemann 3 0-0 6, Schooler 3 1-2 8, Kelly 0 0-0 0, Rose 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Isaacson 4 5-7 13, Widmer 0 0-0 0, H.Sparks 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0-0 0, Sonn 0 0-0 0, Richards 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 12-18 41.

FERRIS - Pruett 5 7-7 19, Lytle 2 0-2 4, George 4 5-6 14, Morrisette 7 3-3 17, Brazzle 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 0-0 2, McCaffery 0 0-0 0, Benzel 0 1-2 1, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Lynn 0 0-0 0, Kirstein 0 0-0 0, Foster 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 16-20 59.

3-point goals - Pruett 2, George. Fouled out - Schuenemann.

Richland 49, CV 35

Julie Vanni and Hope Solo combined to score 30 points to lead the Bombers (21-2) past the Bears (19-4).

Jenny Coyle topped Central Valley with 13 points, while Rikki Jackson had 10. Courtney Phinney snagged five steals for the Bears.

Central Valley 5 8 11 11 - 35

Richland 8 16 12 13 - 49

CENTRAL VALLEY - Phinney 2 0-0 4, Wilson 0 1-2 1, Grafos 0 0-0 0, Jackson 3 2-4 10, Shoquist 1 0-0 3, Liepman 1 2-2 4, J.Coyle 6 1-2 13. Totals 13 6-10 35.

RICHLAND - Duncan 1 0-0 2, Smith 2 0-0 5, Gies 0 0-0 0, Kautzke 4 1-2 11, Holsten 0 1-3 1, Solo 4 5-9 13, Vanni 4 9-10 17. Totals 15 16-24 49.

3-point goals - Jackson 2, Shoquist,, Smith, Kautzke 2. Total fouls - CV 18, Richland 8. Fouled out - None.

Kamiakin 68, LC 26

The Braves (21-2) jumped out to a 25-4 lead and rolled over the Tigers (10-14).

Emily Autry had 20 points and seven rebounds to pace Kamiakin. LC shot just 23 percent from the floor.

Lewis and Clark 4 9 7 6 - 26

Kamiakin 16 18 16 28 - 68

LEWIS AND CLARK - Kauppila 2 0-0 4, Hamre 0 0-0 0, Wendle 1 0-0 3, Travis 0 2-4 2, Marquess 1 0-0 2, Glotfelty 1 0-4 2, Thompson 2 1-2 5, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Lopes 1 0-0 2, Ford 2 0-0 4, Gill 0 0-0 0, Babin 0 2-2 2. Totals 10 5-12 26.

KAMIAKIN - Lacey 3 0-0 7, A.Porter 2 0-0 5, Albano 4 0-0 10, Keates 2 0-0 5, S. Albano 0 0-0 0, Farabee 0 0-0 0, Ramsgate 3 1-1 7, Aekin 0 0-0 0, Cole 1 0-0 2, Anglesey 3 0-0 6, Wyrick 2 2-3 6, Autry 8 4-5 20. Totals 26 7-9 68.

3-point goals - Wendle, A.Porter, Lacey, K.Albano 2, Keates. Total fouls - LC 12, Kamiakin 11. Fouled out - none.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo